Sorting machine



EDec. 31, 19290 I E, A. FORD 1,741,985

SORTING MACHINE Filed Nov.,7, 1924 11 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 31, 1929 E. A.FORD SORTING MACHINE Filed NOV. 7, 1924 ll Sheets-Sheet 2 mom avwantoz$51 Gib M4015 LMLS Dec. 31, 1929. E. A. FORD I SORTING MACHINE 1,1,Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. '7, 1924 Dec. 31, 1929.

EJ741385 v I E. A. FORD SORTING MACHINE l1. Sheets-Shet 4 Filed Nov. '7,1924 Dec. 31, 1929. E. A. FORD SQRTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 1924 llSheets-Sheet 5 Dec. 31, 1929.

7 :1 NHL/37 I A. FORD SORTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 7, 1924 ll Sheets-Sheet6 nveuto'c Dec. 31, 1929. E. A. FORD SORTING MACHINE Filed Nov. '7, 1924ll'sne ts-sneet' 7 Dec. 31, 1929. E. A. FORD SORTING MACHINE Filed Nov.7, 1924 11 Sheets-Sheet 8 I avwewto'c CL %M W Dec. 31, 1929. E. A. FORDI ISORTING MACHINE Filed Nov. '7, 1924 11 fihpets-Sheet 10' awue midDec. 31, 1929. E. A. FORD SORTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 1924 11Sheets-Sheet; 11

"team Patented Dec. 31, I929 UNETE EUGENE A. roan, onsonnsnnnn, NEWYORK,- Assmnon. TO THE .TAIBULATING ma- CHINE COMPANY, OIE ENDICOT'I,

SORTING Application filed November This invention relates to machinesespecially adapted for sorting cards used in tabulating systems such,for instance, as the .Hollerith.

Index points are formed by punching holes through the cards, the valueand character of the information conveyed. by each hole being dependenton its exact location on the card.

The function of the sorting machine is to take a promiscuous stack ofcards and sort or I classify them into groups as desired by theoperator, so as to readily'permit the computing or analyzing of theinformation carried on the cards.

The present invention, which preferably sorts electrically, is designedto overcome many faults of previous sorting machines. It has noreciprocating parts, consequently it may be run at higher speed and withless noise than previous machines. The higher speed enables it to do itswork in less time, and the quiet operation allows it to be used inoffices where quietness is essential.

Its design and principle of operation is such that it may be built lowin height and thereby allow the operator to be seated. Its lowheight,horizontal construction, and absence of obstructions on top permits theuse of a work table as an integral part of the machine, therebysaving-the space required by a separate table and adding to theconvenience of operation. The card receiving stations being only onetier in height, have greater storage capacity than in former machines.

My machine will handle long or short cards; its brush setting mechanismis more convenient; and its simplicity of construction is such that itis easier and cheaper to build and maintain than former sorters.

In addition to the above, the present machine has universal split andselection, the meaning of which will presently be explained.

One of the objects of the present invention resides in the provision ofnovel means for effecting the selection of the passages 01' chutes tothe various receiving stations. In

lace of using a stop element which is controlled by the card analyzingdevices for NEW YORK, A CORPORATION 0E NEW JERSEY MACHINE a, 1924.Serial at. 74am.

difierentially arresting the sorter or distribration of the blades,which analyzing device operates in conjunction with the record cardwhich is analyzed to control by and in accordance with the position ofthe card itself the selection of the passage between a pair of bladesand thereby determine the destination of the card.

A further object of the present invention resides in the provision-of apeculiar form of distributing blades. The blades are provided withreceiving ends of progressively different length and the increment oflength between each adjacent pair of blade ends corresponds to theinterval between adjacent index point perforations of the record cards.Provision is made for directing a card along the blades and at the timethe index point is analyzed by the analyzing means provision is made foropening up the blades. The card then acts in accordance with itsposition to prevent the opening "of passages between blades alreadypassed by the card but permits the opening of the next succeedingpassage thegeby determining the destination of the car Further and otheradvantages of the present invention will' hereafter appear in theaccompanying specifications and claims and in the drawings, which, byway of illustration, show what I now consider to be a preferredembodiment of the invention.

In the drawings, I

Fig. 1- is a front elevation, partly broken away, and partly in section,of my complete machine. y Y

Fig. 2 's a section on line. 2-2 of Fig. 1 looking to ards the feedmagazine and brush mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 3 is a detail section of a card discharge receptacle.

portion of Fig. 3 showing a card being fed through the feed rolls at theinstant the-control magnet is about to gperate.

Fig. 5 is the same as 1g. 4 but the control magnet has acted. Fig. 6 isa section as indicated at 6-6 in F1 2 showing the automaticcard-controlle circuit breaker.

Fig. 7 is a front view, partly'in section, of brush holder mechanism,also part of contact cylinder and its shaf s Fig. 8 1s a side viewofbrush holder mechanism, partly in section. a

Fig. 9 is a top view of the receiving end of a distributing blade.

just after Fig. 9"is a section side view of the dischar e end of adistributing blade, as secure to bracket at receiving station.

Fig. 10 is a plan viewof Fig. 1.

Fig. 11 is a section as indicated by 11--11 on Fig. 10, looking to theleft.

Fig. 12 is a detail showing how the con-.-

ve or rolls are driven.

1g. 13 is an end view, partly 1n section,

' of the universal selector and splitting 'device.

Fig. 14 is a section on line 14-14 of Fig. 13.

Fig. 14" is an enlarged detail of the lower portion of Fig. 14. I Fig.15 is a diagram of the electric circuits, and a diagrammaticrepresentation of the selector mechanism of Figs. 13 and 14.

' Fi- 16 is a plan view, partly in section, on the l ne 16-16 of Fig.

Fig. 17 is an enlarged view, more in detail, of the picker device shownin Fig. 3.

Fig. 18 is a detail on line 18--18 of Fig. 17. Fig. 19 is a section online 1919 of Fig. 3.

I Fig. 20 is a view of hinge of work table. I.

Fig. 21 is a view of a typical record card. Fig. 22 is a view of analternative arrangement of control magnet and armature.

' column has 10 index positions. The columns.

Fig. 23 is an enlarged fragmental sectional side elevation of partsshown in Fig. 22.

' Record card 'In order that the operation of my machine may be fullyunderstood I show in Fig. 21

atypical record card arranged to compile 'a sales record. Each cardrepresents a sale and when properly punched contains alldesiredinformation regarding that particular transactioli. L I

' 'As indicated by the serial numbers across the bottom, the card hascolumns, and each are arranged in groups, or sections,.suitable for thepurpose required under each heading. By way of illustration, columns 21to 26 inclusive, are provided to record the amount of a-sale, which, onthe card shown, was $896.50, designated by holes punched in the .card'at proper index positions. Columns 18 to 20 indicate the account number,which the punched holes show 'to be 321. Likewise columns 14 to 17 showthe quantity, ornumber of articles sold, to be 4546. The salesman whomade the sale was N o. 21, as indicated by columns 11-12; the customerwas No. 549, as shown in columns 8-10, the sale was made in county 33 inState 24, as shown in column groups 6-7 and 4-5 respectivelyfor thatpurpose is 31, the index spaces below 3 in column 1 may either be leftblank or used for some otherpurpose, for instance designatin the year,as on the card be ore us. This rings about a condition wherein we havetwo holes punched in a single column. Such a column is known as a splitcolumn and will be referred to a ain later.

In order to make per ectly clear the function of the sorting machine inmy present invention, I shall briefly describe how the rec- 0rd cardsare used in actual service.

If the operator has a promiscuous stackof cards covering several yearssales, and he wants to know the amount of those sales in dollars andcents, he will run the cards through a' tabulating machine, such as thewell known Hollerith, which, when adjusted to add the columns 21-26 ofthe sales card, will register the desired total on suitable counters.

, If he wants his sales record divided into years, he will first run hiscards through the sorting machine while acting under control of thepunched holes in the lower section of column 1, and each years cardswill-automatically be discharged into a separate receiving station. Thenhe can run the cards for each year through the tabulating machine. If hewants the sales for only the year 1922 and is not interested in theother years he can set the control mechanism of my machine so that onlythe 1922 cards will be se arated and deposited in a station bythemseves, the remaining cards all going into the reject station. i

Then if he wants the 1922 sales separated into months my sorter will doit on a separate sorting run while acting under control of index holesin column 3.

If he wants to know the amount of sales to customer No. 549 he willfirst run all his cards .through the sorter and separate out all thosesales to customer 549.

General construction and operation.

Having described the purpose 'of the sorter, I shall ,now describe itsconstruction and mode of operation. a i

Referring to Fig. 1 which shows a front view of my machine, the frame ismounted on legs 31. Underneath the main frame, and carried by the legs,is a shelf or subframe 3 supporting the motor 33 which drives themachine by pulley-34 through belt'35 to pulley 36 secured to shaft 37which runs the full length of the machine, in the rear,-pulley 36 beingon one end of it and handwheel 38 on the other. Motor 33 is shownslightly displaced from its true position in order to save space in thedrawing.

The motor is mounted on a fixed base 39 and has a stem 40 extending intothe base, which permits the motor to be adjusted vertically to maintainproper tension in the belt should it stretch, or if the sizes of thepulleys be changed in order to change the speed of the machine. Alocking screw operated by h'andwheel 41 serves to secure the motor toits base.

Box 42 underneath the right hand end of the frame 30 contains therelays, fuses, and electrical connections, current from the outsidesource being admitted to, or cut out from, the machine by theswitchbuttons 43.

In handling tabulating record cards it is desirable that they be verycarefully stacked or jogged by the operator before being placed in thefeed magazine, so as to facilitate their being fed accurately to themachine. My invention provides excellent facilities for this I stackingor jogging operation, in the table top 44 (Figs. 1, 10, 11, 20) with itsback 45 and its ends 46 all arranged at right angles to eachother. Thetable is preferably of transparent material such as glass, so theprogress of the cards moving underneath to their respective stations maybe observed. The table-top is hinged by the rod 47 secured to anextension 48 of the top, at each end, the rod 47 passing'through aplurality of clamps 49 which are slotted, as at 50, and adjusted byscrews 51 to give just suflicient grip on shaft 47 to retain the top atany desired raised position and prevent its slamming down. If desired,the top may be clamped down by the thumb screws 52 which serve to securethe top to the guard plate '53 which extends lengthwise of the machinein front and is rigidly attached thereto. The plate 53 has severalcut-away portions, as at-54 (Fig. 1)

for convenience of the operator in getting his fin ers under the. top toraise it.

group of cards having been properly stacked, the stack is placed in thefeed magazine as at 55 with plate 56 on top of the stack. This plate isused so that when there are only a few cards left in the stack therewill be enough weight on them to prevent them being displaced from trueosition by the rapid .action of the picker mec anism. Bracket 57 servesto hold the plate when it is not in use.

The operator by means of a crank handle 58 moves the contact brush so itwill traverse the desired index column on the cards as they pass underit, and he arranges the selector buttons 59, to give the kind of sort hewants.

He then starts the machine by depressing button 60. Picker drum 61,drivenv from shaft 37, rotates and feeds the cards one by one from thebottom of the stack into the.

which is an inclined tray 63 having vertical fingers 64 (Fig. 3)extending upwardly from its lower edge. Each tray is carrie by a plunger65 which extends downwardly into a cylinder 66, wherein the plunger issupported by a coil spring 67 of such resiliency as to gradually sink asits lead of cards increases and always maintain the top of its stack ator near the top of its compartment so that newly arriving cards willhave only a slight distance to drop and consequently will have no chanceto turn over or become otherwise deranged.

- Feed mechanism The feed mechanism (Figs. 2, 3, 16, 17, 18)

consists of the rotary picker drum 61, mountv ed on shaft 61 on which isfast spiral gear 67 driven by worm 68 on shaft 37. Drum 61 carries inits rim a number of picker blades'69 extending lengthwise of the drumand secured in place by the screws 7 0. These blades project from thedrum a distance slightly less than the thickness of a card. Picker drum61 is enclosed in the housing 71. As the drum revolves each blade inturn picks a card'from the bottom of the stack 55 and feeds it throughthe micrometer or card throat openings 72 provided between the fixedplates 73 and'rollers 74, carried by plates 76, one

micrometer opening being located toward each end of the card. Theopenings are adjusted so that only one card may pass at a time, theadjustment being accomplished by set screws 75 which raise or lowerplates 7 6 thereby moving rollers 7 4 relative to plate 73. The card isimpelled by the picker blade until it is seizedb-y the contact cylinderand its rollers.

' slightly cut away as at 88 to prevent the- The picker drum variesfromtrue cylin drical shape as best shown in Fig. 17 wherein it will benoticed that after a picker blade has taken its card, the weight of theright hand side of the stack of cards is resting on that portion of thedrum which-is truly cylindrical, and as the drum revolves, the stack,following the cut-away contour of the drum, gradually reaches a lowposition at the point 77, from which point the edge of the stack israpidly pushed upward again as-that portion of the drum between 77andtheblade pass under it, and is still being raised when the bladecontacts with the card.

The front faces of the blades are not radial, but if extended inwardlywould be tangent to the circle 78. This is done so there will be aslightly obtuse angle between card and picker blade attime of contact asindicated by angle 79, and the blade thereby gets a positive grip on thecard.

Each card, when struck by the rapidly moving picker blade, has atendency to buckle, but this is rendered unobjectionable by making plate80 slightly concave. This construction allows the card to buckleslightly downwards in the middle without disturbing the stack orinterfering with the positiveness of feed. Likewise the lower edges ofplate 73 are curved upwards on both sides of micrometer opening 72 toallow the card freedom to curve slightly at its ends without interferingwith regular operation of feed.

The stack of cards is held in position to be fed into the machine byplate 73 and by the two end plates 81 and by the two slotted posts 82.The end plates 81 are heldin position by dowel pins extending from theirlower ends into the frame of the machine, as at 83, and by thumb screws84 through the plate 73 near the upper ends of the posts. Provision maybe made for feeding cards of different lengths by moving end plates todifferent positions, as for instance, to the positions indicated bydowel holes 85 in the frame and thumb screw holes 86 in plate 73. Posts82 are slotted vertically to receive guide studs in keeper plate 56 asindicated at 87 (Fig. 3).

The under side of plate 56 (Fig. 17) is picker knives hitting the edgeof the plate after'the last card has been fed. 'To further provideagainst injury toplate or blades the plate is provided with two studs89, their lower edges being lower than the bottom of the plate so thatwhen the last card has been fed the heads of the studs ride on the drumand keep the plate out of contact with drum.

Distributing. system p The principle of my distributing system may bereadily understood from Figs. 4. and 5, in which 100 is a brass contactcylinder extending crosswise of the machine, 101 being a pair of rollerspressed downwardly against cylinder 100. 103 is acard passing betweencylinder and rollers, and 104 is the brush carrying electric current.105 is a hinged armature normally held by spring 106 (Fig. 2) inelevated position as in Fig. 4, but drawn down to position. as in Fig. 5when the magnets 107 are energized. 108 are sheets of in sulatingmaterial, such as bakeli'te, one on each side of the upraised end of thearmature. 109 area plurality of flexible blades made of steel and springbiased downwards so their upturned tips 110 rest on top of armature 105.The receiving ends of the blades are narrowed relatively tothe mainportions of the blades, as shown in Fig. 9. The other ends of theseblades are successively attached to brackets 111, one above eachreceiving station, the lowest blade going to station R, the second fromthe bottom going to station E, the third to station X, the fourthtostation 0, the fifth to station 1, aiid so on to station 9.

The method of attachment to the brackets 111 is shown in Fig.9? whichshows the main body of the blade welded to block 112 which is attachedto bracket 111' by screws. A portion 113 unched from the center of theblade is bent ownwardly below the bracket 111. A separate chutedeflecting blade 114 is secured to each bracket 111 to assist instacking the cards properly in the several receiving stations. 115 is aguide block to insure the cards properly entering between plates 108 andspring lips 110, while 116 is a rigid plate extending lengthwise of themachine above the blades 109. It is fastened to the frame above station9 and by cross members 117. It carries guide block 115 on arm 118 whichis secured to 116 by screw 119 and dowel pin 120 so when desired it mayreadily be swung aside.

Restoring cam 121, revolvin synchronously with the balance of the mecanism, restores the armature 105 to its position after the passage ofeach card.

In passing to the several receiving stations the card is drawn alongbetween successive upper and lower pairs of feed rolls spaced so thateach set ofrolls receives the card counter clockwise so as to draw thecards between them. The rollers'are placed on their shafts so as to bein line with the card throat and serve as bearing and spacing collarsfor the shafts. On the upper roller shaft 123 the hub of the gear 127serves asa spacing collar on one end and with collar 129 on the otherend, keeps the shaft in proper endwise posisure between the upper andlower rolls is adjusted by the spring clips 132 which have twodownwardly bent ends, one end resting on top of frame 131 while theother rests in the groove of bearing sleeve 130. It is evident that thedownward pressure on 130 may be adjusted by regulating screw 133 whichpasses through the middle portion of clip 132 and secures it to theframe 131. The shield 134 extends lengthwise of the machine to covershaft 37 and the gears 127.

' While the machine is sorting a promiscuous stack of cards, each cardas it comes from the feeding mechanism is passed over the cylinder 100,with brush 104 bearing on the top surface of the card. If the brushfinds no hole in the card, that card will pass along above plates 108and underneath all the upturned blade ends 110, into the firstvreceiving station, designated R, or reject.

If, however, brush 104 finds a hole in the card it will complete theelectric circuit by making contact with cylinder 100, magnets 107 willthereby be energized, armature 105' will be drawn down, followed by allthe blade ends 109 which are not prevented by the card itself fromfollowing the armature, and we have the condition shown in Fig. 5wherein it is evident that further progress of the card to the left willdirect it into the passage between the 5th and 6th blade (counting fromthe right), and that card as it passes between the successive pairs ofrollers will be confined to that particular passage, which endsin'station 4. It is evident that the destination of each card depends onhow far the card has traveled underneath the blades 109 at the instantthe magnet is energized, and that depends on the location of the hole inthe card.

The cards are fed bottom first and the brush passes over the indexpostions in any column in the order 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0,followed by the extra positions,as for instance 11 and 12 in Fig. 21.These extra positions correspond to stations X and E respectively.

Ends 110 of blades ,109 are so positioned relatively to the brush 104that if the brush.

finds a hole at index position 9 the magnet will have acted before theadvancing edge of the card has reached the first blade, the card willpass above all the blades and will be conducted by the rollers into thefurthest station, which is No. 9. If the brush does not find a hole inthe card until index point 8 is reached, the card will have advanced farenough to prevent the end of the first blade being lowered when themagnet is energized, but all the others will have followed the armaturedownward (both on account of the spring bias of the blades themselves,and the attraction of the magnets for the blades, which are preferably,of steel) and the card will pass between the first and second bladesinto station No. 8, and so on. It will be understood that the thicknessof the blades is much less" than indicated by the drawings, so they mustbend only very slightly in order to permit the cards totravel in theplane beu tween the rolls. 7

Armature 105 is a swin ing plate (Fig. 2) above the four magnets 10which are mount-- ed in the frame 135. The armature is hinged by a Vshaped pivot formed on top of one of the sides of the ma net frame 135,at 136. Two pins 137 set into the top of the wall, pass loosely throughholes in the armature and prevent it being displaced. Spring 106 may beadjusted by screw 138 passing through stud 139 and locked by nut 140, tohold the armature in its elevated position against the pressure ofblades 109. The armature is formed, at its end adjacent the blades, intothe shape of a plate approximately the width of blades 109, and locatedbetween insulating plates Brush mechanism Brush 104 is secured by anysuitable means to brush plate 150 (Figs. 7 and 8). The brush plate isfastenedby screws or rivets 151 to brush holder 152 which is bakelite orsome similar insulating material. Plate 150 is slotted as at 153, toprovide a tongue 154 which makes a resilient contact with thecurrentcarrying plate 155 extending cross-wise the machine. Steel plate157 extending crosswise brush holder, by threaded block 160, to itsdesired position. Set into block 160 and held by plate 161 is the piece162 which has an upwardly extending arm 163 having a projection at itsupper end, this projection being V shaped on its under side to fitany)one of the serrations on the upper side of ar 157.

The lower part of member 162 has stepped shoulders extending laterally,the lower steps 164 (Fig. 7) serving as guides to keep 162 1n position,and the upper steps 165 serving as -bearings for the coil springs 166,set into recesses 1n-160, and which through plungers 173 press 162constantly downwards relative- 1v to 160. Pin 167, screwed into the rearof machine so that brush 104 will register with.

the desired column on the card it is essential that the brush be notinjured by being dragged sidewise on the card or on cylinder 100, andthe above described mechanism prevents such injury. Fig. 2 shows thebrush in operative position with V shaped projection 163 resting in thebottom of the serration in bar 157 corresponding to the card columnbeing analyzed. Block 162 is spring pressed to its lowest position. Ifnow screw 159 be turned the inclined face of the V tooth on bar 157actin on the V shaped projection 163 will raise the atter and with itthe brush to the position shown in Fi 7. If the screw be turned further163 Wlll settle into the next notch, and if turned still further thebrush maybe moved as far as desired across the card, the brush rising ateach tooth but never draggin I As a urther precaution against injury tothe brush while being removed for inspection it will be noticed thatbrush holder 152 has a downwardly projectin shoulder 171 engaging with'ashoulder 1 2 on member 156 so that brush holder 152 can not be removedfrom nor replaced on pin 167 until 152 is in its highest position andthe brush therefore out of contact with" card or cylinder '100.

Selector mechanism The selectoris a device designed to enable theoperator of the sorter to determine which index holes in a card columnwill control the sort. 55 My selector (Figs. 13, 14, 14) comprises acircular disc 200 of bakelite or some similar non-conductingmaterial,.mounted on a metal 7 hub 201 which in turn is fast to shaft202 which carries cylinder 100. Disc 200 has an outer ri1'n2'03 ofcopper or brass, and near its hub has a'ring of brass or copper buttons204 embedded flush with the 'bakelite surface. Each button correspondsto' a sorting station and is lettered accordingly R, E, X, 0, 1, 2, 3,4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 Each button 204 is connected by a rivet through thedisc a button'205 is set at its outermost radial position, as in theupper part of Fig. 14, then its outer end will be in contact with ring203 and the circuit will be complete through the selector, the currentpassing out through shoe 209 and conductor 210. If, however, any button59 is pushed, with its spring 206, to the inner limit of its travel, asfor instance the No. 1 button in Fig. 13, a condition is found as bestshown in the enlarged cross section in Fig.

14 wherein it will be noticed that spring 206 7 .makes contact withneither the button 205 nor the outer rin 203 and no current passes. Inthis position t e bow-spring 206 automatically locks itself in positionwhen its inner end enters the circular groove 211.

The rotation of the selector is so timed with relation to the movementof the cards being fed into the sorter that each selector button makescontact with brush 208 just before the corresponding index position onthe card reaches brush 104. Then if the brush finds a hole in the cardat that index position it makes contact with drum 100, the magnets 107are energizedand the card goes to its proper station as previouslydescribed. It

will be noted that contact must be made concurrently by brush 104 andbrush 208 in order to energize the magnet. In actual practice contact ismade and broken by brush 208 slightly before being made and broken bybrush 104, in order to prevent sparking at the card.

The diagram (Fig. 15) illustrates the flow of current, the upper portionrepresenting in perspective shaft 202, a portion of cylinder 100 and theselector mechanism arranged, for convenience of illustration, with ring203 and its brush near the hub, and buttons 204 and brush 208 on outerrim. A retaining ring 212 held to disc 200-by screws 213 holdsbowsprings 206 and buttons 59 in position.

Operation trolof brush 104 and the cards therefore will all be sortedinto their respective stations in accordance with locations of indexholes in the column being analyzed.

To split the-column at any desired point, I

as for instance if the'operator wants to reject all cards havingperforations below the three position in a column, he will push in allthe 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 buttons. Then all cards having holes in thosepositions will be rejected while all cards having holes 3 and above willbe sorted to their respective stations. This feature proves useful in acolumn such as No. 1 in Fig. 21 in which there are two holes in eachcolumn, those below 3 denoting years and those in positions 3 and abovedenoting days of the month, as it allows each section of the column tobe sorted separately.

The device may be used also for selecting only cards having holespunched at only one index position, as for instance the 6 position, inwhich case all buttons except the 6 will be pushed in. All 6 cards willthen go to the 6 station, the others all going to the R station.

To sort more than one position in a column, as for instance 9 and 7, allbuttons except 9 and 7 are pushed in. Then all cards with only a 9 holewill go to the 9 station and all with only a 7 will go to the 7 station,all others being rejected. If it happens that a card has holes at both 9and 7 positions it will go to the 9 station because the 9 index positionreaches brush 104 first. The cards in 9 station therefore will have tobe run through the sorter again with only the 7 button in control, inorder to separate them.

In ordinary service the operator starts the machine pressing starterbutton and stops it by pressing either of the stop buttons 214, one ateach end of the machine. To maintain the motor in operation. and allowthe operator to release pressure from the start key after cards arestarted feeding through the machine and further to automatically stopthe motor upon the passage of the last card a card lever contact orswitch mechanism block 215, fast to the frame of the machine,

thereby depressing card lever 216 which is pivoted to the frame at 217,and which by its downwardly extending arm 218 controls the card contacts219. When a card is passing arm 218 presses spring blade 220to the leftand contact is maintained at 219, but if 110' card is passing, 216 isfree to rise sufliciently to allow 218 to move to the right, and springblade 220 breaks the contact. Rollers 122 and 124 immediately adjacentthis automatic switch mechanism are grooved to accommodate theheel ofcard lever 216.

In starting the machine start key 60 is depressed closing a circuit fromsource S through control relay R motor relay R and back to source. Theenergization of relay R brings the motor 33 into circuit with the sourceS. After the cards begin to pass contacts 219 closes and maintain relayR energized until its circuit is broken by'the depression of either ofthe stop keys 214 or by the opening of card lever contacts 219 after thepassage of the last card or upon the failure of feeding of a card intothe machine. Relay R is closed upon the passage of an-index pointperforation under the brush 104 and thereafter establishes a circuit tocontact brush 208 andthus permits a reduction in the amount of currentwhich flows through the brush circuit, the main supply for the sortermagnet 107 passing directly from relay R and not passing through brush104.

Figs. 22 and 23 illustrate an alternative arrangement of the controlmagnets in which the magnets are horizontal instead of vertical, witharmature pivoted at 230. When the magnets are energized and armature 105drawn to, the left, it releases angle piece 231,

which, swinging on its pivot 232 drops until it rests on stop pin 233thereby permitting the spring-biased ribbons 109 not supported by thecard, to drop and direct the card between theproper pair of ribbons toits sta tion. The hinge 232 is supported by the frame 234 fast to theframe of the machine. As 231 is restored to its normal position by cam121, armature 10a influenced by springv 106 latches 231 in raisedposition where it remains until the magnet is again energized.

It is sometime desired to operate the machine slowly by hand, and forthat purpose hand wheel 38 is provided on the end of shaft 37. This handwheel is provided witha one-way clutch so as to prevent turning themachine in the wrong direction and thereby injuring the brush. Thisclutch has rollers 235 contained within the cylindrical hub and actingin conjunction with inclined surfaces 237 so that if wheel 38 be turnedclockwise, shaft 37 will also turn, but if 38 is turned counterclockwiseshaft 37 will not be moved. In accordance with the provisions of thepatent statutes, I have herein described the principles of operation ofmy invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider torepresent the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have itunderstood that the apparatus disclosed is only illustrative and thatthe invention can be carried out by other means. Also, while it isdesigned to use the various features and elements in the combinationsand relations described, some of these may be altered and others omittedand some of the features of each modification may be embodied in theothers without interfering with the more general results outlined, andthe inventioniextends to such use.

.I claim:

1. In combination, means for analyzing a card, a plurality ofdistributing passages the receiving ends of which are normally closed,means operated by said analyzing means to open the receiving end of apassage for the card, the position of the card itself determining whichpassage shall be opened.

said analyzing means, said movablemember operating in conjunction withsaid card to open a passage for the card between the blades.

4. In combination, analyzing means comprising devices which causeelectric energy to pass through holes in the card, a plurality of bladesforming passages for cards, a movable member under control of theanalyzing means, the receiving ends of said blades being spring biasedagainst said movable member, said movable member operating inconjunction with the card to open a passage for the card between theblades.

5. In combination, analyzing means comprising devices which causeelectric energy to pass through holes in the card, a plurality of bladesforming passages for cards, an armature movable by said analyzing means,the receiving ends of said blades resting on said armature, and saidarmature operating in conjunction with the card to open a passage forthe card between the blades.

6. Ina card sorting machine, in combination,"a feedingdevice, ananalyzing device comprising means for causing electric current to flowthrough holes in the card, a plurality of receiving stations, aplurality of blades formin passages for cards, an armature movable bysaid analyzing means, the

receiving ends of said blades resting on said armature, the armatureoperating in conjunc tion with the card to open a passage for the cardbetween the blades.

7.. In combination, an analyzing device comprising means for causingelectric current to flow through holes in'the card, a magnet operable bysaid analyzing device, a plurality of superimposed blades formingdistributing passages for the cards, the receiving end of each of saidblades being longer than 'the one below it, and all said blade endsresting on a plate so positioned that said card while emerging from theanalyzing devices passes between said blade ends and said plate, meansfor bringing about a lowering of said plate and all of said bladesexcept those superimposed upon the card being analyzed upon theanalyzation of a card to thereby open a passage for the card between twoblades, the particular passage opened depending upon the position of thecard at the instant of lowering the blades.

8. In an apparatus of the class described, in combination, cardanalyzing means comprising devices which cause electric current to flowthrough holes in the card, a magnet controlled thereby, a plurality ofsuperimposed blades of magnetic material forming distributing passagesfor the cards, the receiving end of each blade being longer than theblade below it, a movable armature upon which the receiving ends of saidblades rest, means for directing the analyzed cards between saidarmature and the receiving ends of said blades, said magnet whenenergized under control of the analyzing means attracting said armatureand with it all blade ends IIOtfiJI'BStGCl from descent by the carditself whereby a cardpassage is selected between two blades, whichselection of passage de pends upon the position of the card itself asthe analyzing is effected.

9. In apparatus for sorting cards under control of electric currentsflowing through holes in the card, in combination, a contact brush, andmeans to position said brush relatively to a card, said positioningmeans being arranged to prevent contact of said brush while suchrelative motion is taking place.

10. In apparatus for sorting cards under control of electric currentsflowing through holes in the card, in combination, a contact brush, abrush holder, means to position the brush relatively to a card, saidpositioning means comprising a serrated bar coacting with the brushholder to raise the brush out of contact, during such relative movementcontrol of electric currents flowing through holes in the card, incombination. a contact brush, a brush holder, a serrated bar, meanscomprising a screw to position the brush relatively to the card, saidserrated bar coacting with the brush holder to hold the brush out ofcontact during such relative movement of the brush, and lower the brushinto contact at a position corresponding to each column of the card.

13. In apparatus for sorting cards under control of electric currentsflowing through holes-in the card, in combination, a contact brush, andmeans to prevent removal or replacement of the brush while said brush isin contact.

14. Inapparatus for sorting cards under control of electric currentsflowing through 5 of the cards through the distributing devicesunder theaction of said conveyor.

16. A sorter of the horizontal type having a plurality of receivingstations disposed side by side in horizontal alignment, conveying andcard distributing devices above said stations, and a card jogging tabledisposed above said conveying and distributing devices and supported fordisplacement from normal position to render the conveying anddistributing devices and any cards contained-therein accessible to theoperator. I

17. The invention set forth in claim 16 in which said table is providedwith a transparent portion to permit the operator to note the progressofthe cards through the distributing devices while said table top is innormal position, and in which automatic means is provided to hold saidtable top in any displaced position to prevent damage to the machine orinjury of the operator. 18. In a card sorting machine, which includescard analyzing means and means for conveying cards to different stationsaccording to analysis thereof, a receptacle at one of said receivingstations comprising vertical walls, and between said walls a resilientlysupported inclined tray, said tray having fingers extending upwardlyfrom itslower edge to arrest and support the cards out of contact withthe walls of the receiving chamber.

19. In a card sorting machine, which includes-card analyzing means andmeans for conveying cards to different stations according to analysisthereof, a receptacle atone of said receiving stations comprisingvertic'al walls, and between said walls a tray carried on a stem guidedby a vertical tube telescoping with said stem and resiliently supportedin said tube.

20. In a card sorting machine, in combination, a feeding device, ananalyzing device, a plurality of receiving stations and means controlledby the physical structure of the card itself and apart from thecooperation of portions of the card with said analyzing device, fordetermining to which station' the card will be delivered.

21. In a card sorting machine, in combination, a feeding device, ananalyzing device comprising means for causing electric current to fiowthrough holes in the. card, a plurality of distributing assages, amagnet controlled by said ana yzing. device to open the receiving end ofa passage for a card, the position of the card itself supplemented bythe control from said analyzin device for determining which passage wilbe opened.

22. In a card sorting machine, in combination, a card picking device, ananalyzing device receiving cards therefrom, a plurality of receivingstations, and a distributing system comprising a plurality of bladesformin passages for the cards from the picking an analyzing device tosaid stations, said blades being attached to frame of the machine onlyat their discharge ends.

23. In a card sorting machine,-in combination, a picking device, ananalyzing device receiving cards therefrom, a plurality of receivingstations, a distributing system comprisin a plurality of blades formingpassages or cards, and. a conveyor having feed rolls dis osed at eachside of said distributing bl'a es, said blades being free of any supportat the marginal sides thereof throu hout their length. 4

24:. n a card sorting machine, in combination, a card picking device, ananalyzing device, a plurality of receiving stations, a d1stributingsystem comprising a plurality ofpassages for cards, means controlled bythe direct cooperation of a card and an element of the distributingsystem to select the passage forthe card therein, and a conveyorarranged to convey such cardfrom the pickin and analyzing device throughthe distri uting system in the passage selected by the card itself. I

25. In a card sorting machine, in combination, a card feeding device, ananalyzing device receivin cards therefrom, a series of horizontallydisposed receiving stations, a card conve or common to all said stationsand locate above said stations, a distributing system havin passagesthrough which cards are conveye by the conveyor from the analyzingdevice to the stations, and means controlled by the direct cooperationof a card with elements of the distributing system and in turncontrolled by the analyzing device for selectin the assag'es in saiddistributing system t roug which the card is conveye 26. In a cardsorting machine, in combination, a card picker vice, an analyzingdevice, a series of horizontally disposed receiving stations, a cardconveyor common to all the stations and located above them, and adistributing system having passages through which cards are-conveyed bythe conveyor from the analyzing and picking device to the stations, saiddistributing system comprising members extending from ad-

